SINGAPORE, September 15, 2013 – The fifth Spikes Asia Festival of Creativity kicked off today, with the Suntec City Convention Center paying host to members of the advertising, marketing and branding communities from across the world.
Of the Festival, Cannes Lions and Spikes Asia chairman Terry Savage told adobo that the atmosphere this year was one which lent itself to a higher level of optimism and that he looked forward to seeing the winning entries.
With 4832 pieces of work from 20 countries being judged this year, the judges have their work cut out for them. For Day 1, the shortlists for Print, Outdoor, Direct, Promo & Activation, Media, Design, PR, Radio, digital and Mobile categories were released, with 24 campaigns from the Philippines making the cut. As the seminars began, so too did this year’s batch of Young Spikes for their respective categories.
The festival seminars started with Anomaly Shanghai’s head of strategic planning, Richard Summers, delving into the rapidly evolving creativity that is emerging from China, followed by W+K Tokyo Lab’s art director Shingo Ohno and managing director Blake Harrop taking delegates on an eye-opening tour into the wild frontier that is Japan’s internet backstreets, while Contagious co-founder Will Sansom spoke on how esocial media has completely changed the way companies look at their promos.
Youtube sensation Miyoko Shida Rigolo kept the entire convention hall holding its collective breath with her trademark balancing. Presented by The Grey Group, the balancing proved to be a crowd-pleaser that somehow became more unbelievable in real life than it was on YouTube!
Following Rigolo’s remarkable performance, Starcom MediaVest’s Global Product Director, Human Experience Center, Emma Montgomery, took her turn on stage, speaking on the importance of storytelling in a world where everybody has a smart phone.
At 2.30, Microsoft Head of Consumer Insights for Global Agency & Accounts Anita Caras gave a talk on the increasing role on women online and in real life.
Past 3 p.m., Lowe and Partners Chairman of Global network Tony Wright, and Unilever Personal Care’s global vice president Samir Singh, took to the stage to give their thoughts on campaigns built around “social missions” that may not necessarily have much to do with the brands they are supposedly promoting.
Day 1 of Spikes Asia ended with an open bar that saw judges, delegates and media mingling with glasses raised and spirits high, eagerly looking forward to what Day 2 would bring.
For more information, updates and photos from Spikes Asia 2013, visit adobo magazine’s dedicated Spikes microsite, www.adobomagazine.com/Spikes2013 or add us up on Twitter @adobomagazine
